The Dark World
by Dave Johnson -Dav Strife
Summary: Dark things are stirring on Tracton so King Mickey assembles a search party to check it out... but everything does not go to plan...
1. Prologue

**Authors Notes: Well, here goes, the next major fiction work I shall be spending all my free time on. Tracton will finally be revealed as an important planet in the plot of the balance. I am going to try and set a minumum word count for each chapter (not including title, disclaimer or authors notes) of either 2000 or 2100. Hope you enjoy the prologue of the story despite the lack of action and fight scenes which I usually cram into my fics. The main story will come soon with appearances from Zen and Zalak from the world of Astanta, Cloud Strife and Leon Lionheart, the Dark Wizard Orachron and many more!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts except Dav Strife, the storyline of the Balance, Dav's Nobody Seth, the events of this story and the world of Tracton. Zen, Zalak, Orachron and Ashura belong to MASmaster and Dark Lord Sigma who are good friends of mine! (It think lol) I do not profit in any way from this story except the satisfaction of writing for my fans lol!**

**The Dark World**

**By Dav Strife**

**Chapter 00: Prologue or Revelations**

"I'm soooo bored!" moaned a particularly agitated Tidus who was nudging Wakka's Blitzball around lazily with his foot. "C'mon Dav, lets go do something… anything!"

Dav, who was sat on the beach with his back resting up against the side of the seaside shack cleaning one of his handguns merely glanced up at Tidus but then brought his attention back to cleaning the inside of his weapon's barrel. "Tidus, these guns don't clean themselves you know, go and ask Sora if he wants to fight or something"

"Are you kidding?" Tidus asked loudly "Since the whole Heartless fighting thing he has become stupidly strong! I'd stand a much better chance against a weaker opponent… I don't know, someone like you…"

"…What!" Dav yelled, getting up quickly to stand over Tidus menacingly who grinned back sheepishly.

"Well… you know, compared to Sora that is…"

"Bad move brudda, remember last time when Riku tried calling Dav weak…" Wakka added which caused a shudder to run up Tidus' spine.

"Oh yeah… I swear Riku doesn't walk the same since that time…"

"I'll show you blondie!" Dav growled as he scanned the Island hangout for Sora. Tidus got the urge to point out that Dav was blonder than he is but decided for his own safety to keep quiet. "Ah! There he is… we'll see who is the stronger fighter…"

"Dav, maybe you should reconsider this… Just calm down, ya?"

"I know you are trying to the sensible one Wakka but I'm not gonna back down, I've always wanted to fight with Sora anyway"

"You do know that you're unarmed, don't you?" Tidus pointed out quietly.

"Good point… I know, I'll go home, get my sword and then fight him on the mainland! Sora just left for there anyway so I'll follow him, see ya later ladies"

"You think he'll really do it? Sora is pretty strong for such a little guy" Wakka asked once Dav had left the Island.

"Dav isn't a pushover either ya know… but Sora is the Keyblade master. But then again Dav is the balance… geez… let's go for some ice crem or something"

"Sure" Wakka said quickly trying to get off the subject.

A8A

Tidus and Wakka went to the mainland and immediately headed for an ice cream bar in the town. After each consuming a large three flavour surprise they left for their houses which were a twenty minute walk down the road. After walking for ten minutes the two teens stopped to watch a soccer game in the park which then lead them to sit on a large hill overlooking most of the island.

"Hey man, isn't that your phone going off?" Wakka asked his blonde friend regarding an annoying buzzing sound coming from Tidus' bag.

"Oh yeah…" Tidus took out the phone and pushed a button and placed it next to his right ear, collapsing backwards to lie on the hill as he did so. "Aloha…"

"_Tidus, it's me, Ashura"_

"Oh, right, hey… whats up?"

_Do you know where Strife is? I've tried his mobile phone and house phone and even been round and he's not at home. Did he say anything to you about going out?"_

"He said something about going to fight Sora to see who is the strongest…"

"_Oh no… what did you say to him…"_

"Nothing really, just said he is not as strong as Sora is"

"_I bet they are not the words you used though… You know how competitive they are Tidus! If you find him, ring me back" _ Ashura hung up, leaving Tidus grinning weakly which got Wakka laughing.

"We better go look for him, ya?"

"Yeah, let's go"

A8A

"Doesn't look like he's home…" Wakka stated as he peered in through a window.

"Where else could he have gone… if he received a job from anyone Ashura or me would have been told about it…"

"Let's look inside" Wakka suggested, pointing towards the door.

"How? I'm not breaking into a mercenary's house, let alone a mercenary who controls both light and dark… and is Dav…"

"No dufus!" Wakka laughed "I have a key"

"He gave you a key? No way! I didn't get one!"

"Heh… ask him when we find him, here, open the door T"

Wakka handed Tidus a small key which he inserted into the door and a click resonated from within the lock, allowing the teenagers access to the Strife house hold. Wakka stayed in the kitchen to look for any indication of where Dav had gone while Tidus went up to the young warrior's bedroom and then returned to Wakka who was staring out of the window.

"Ya know, I bet there's an innocent explanation for all of this…" Wakka explained, but stopped when he saw Tidus' face. "What's up brudda?"

"All three swords, both guns, Keyblade, potions, ethers and combat gear are missing… but I did find this note…" Tidus handed a piece of paper to Wakka who read the note aloud, stopping every few sentences to absorb the information.

_Guys,_

_Sorry to ditch you like this but there is something stirring in the darkness so I've gone to check it out. I'm with Riku, King Mickey, Seth, Sora and his friends Donald and Goofy. According to the king there is a very dark and powerful darkness rising on a distant world but here's the bit your going to love, it's our old favourite Tracton. What exactly it is we don't know, could be Heartless, Nobodies or someone powerful like Maleficent or even Xenhort (Ansem Impostor if you forgot). If you want to catch us up take the ship and head straight for Tracton, don't stop anywhere else because we don't know if something is happening all over or whether its just Tracton. I also heard from the king that Orachron has been spotted around and about so you might run into him on the way._

_See You later_

_D.S_

_p.s. I won! But boy was it close! _

"I better ring Ashura and let him know, then we'll go after them…" Tidus informed Wakka who seemed to be surprised.

"You mean me as well?"

"Yeah, we'll need the help"

"What am I goin' to do? Yell at the enemies to death?"

"…That reminds me, Dav's brother made you a weapon… well, he got it off someone else but still… I think they called it the World Champion"

"Why did no one tell me man? Where is it?"

"In his room, on top of his desk"

"Sweet!"

Wakka ran up the stairs and almost knocked Dav's bedroom door down and there he saw his new weapon.

"A lamp? He wants me to fight the Heartless with a lamp!" Wakka yelled in surprise to Tidus who had just come up the stairs.

"The other desk genius!" Tidus said sarcastically.

Wakka turned round to find a deep red variation of Wakka's Blitzball with two black stripes running right round the middle. A line of spikes that curved to the right at their tips ran in between the two black stripes, the weapon itself was tinted with a light red aura that made the weapon look even more evil and dangerous than it already would have without the glow.

"Man, that rules…" Wakka said breathlessly as he picked the weapon up and found that despite the spikes running around its centre it was light and easy to handle. "What's with the wicked glow?" Wakka asked Tidus who was reading a piece of paper.

"It says on this note that the red glow is an enchantment Dav managed to persuade Merlin to put on it_. 'When thrown at an enemy it will instantly comeback to you so you won't ever lose it should you miss a target' _ It also says the spikes retract for easy storage and handling, you simply press a concealed black button that is on one of the stripes. You have to push really hard though but that's a good thing, don't wanna impale yourself accidentally" Tidus mocked but Wakka was too absorbed in the weapon to bother about insults.

"Hey, did you hear something from downstairs?" Wakka asked Tidus who was now stood at the bedroom door peering down the stairs to see who was there.

"Uh-huh, coming up now… hide quick!" Tidus whispered frantically

To hide Wakka opened Dav's wardrobe, pushed aside some of his hanged up clothes, sat in the bottom of it and closed its door softly. Tidus hid behind the door as a figure entered the room slowly, crouched down so he could sneak around. Without thinking Tidus launched himself at the figure and slung his arms around his neck and head to cover the intruder's eyes. Wakka then emerged from the wardrobe and slammed his new throwing weapon into the figure's stomach while making sure the spikes were inside the ball itself. The figure despite being winded grabbed Wakka by the shirt and shoved him into the wall to try and knock him out but instead Wakka was forced against Dav's spare bed which was folded up against the wall and so Wakka escaped pain free. Tidus took his sword that until now had been resting in its sheath in his back and aimed for the attacker's throat while still hanging by one arm around the muscular attacker's neck but at the same time another bladed weapon aimed for Tidus' head but it stopped just short. Tidus looked at the attacker properly who he nearly skewered and nearly had the favour returned to find a slightly flustered Ashura who had one of his hidden arm blades held at Tidus' neck, his un-bladed arm still clutched onto Wakka's T-shirt who was about to stab Ashura's arm with his spiked weapon.

"That was a close one, ya?" Wakka voiced as Ashura and Tidus exchanged confused looks.

"So we thought you were a burglar and you thought we were assassins or something?"

"Something like that, you idiots shouldn't have left the door open… Since when did you have a proper weapon?" Ashura questioned Wakka who held the weapon up proudly.

"Dav got me it for some reason… Maybe so he has more help in dealing with the Heartless…"

"Oh, yeah, read this big man" Tidus suggested, thrusting the note into Ashura's free hand. Ashura held his bladed arm up and flicked a small switch under his sleeve and the blade retracted back under his sleeve. He then un-crumpled the note and read it, taking his time so he understood things properly.

"Interesting…" Ashura announced slowly.

"Meaning what exactly? While Dav and Sora could be in real danger all you can say is interesting?"

"Don't get so flustered Tidus, they are strong, they will be fine… but still we should proceed to follow them and help with their investigation"

"Hey, do you think it could be that demon dude again?" Wakka asked Ashura who looked at him with an interested expression.

"I doubt it, but how do you know of the Demon Zalak?"

"Tidus. He told me all about your adventures. That's why I want to come along and join the team. That's okay with you, ya?"

"I have no objections. I warn you now though. Dav, myself and even your best friend Tidus are different people in battle. Some things that we do are a little questionable at times and some of the things you may see will be hard to deal with. Especially the world of Tracton. Myself and Dav visited there not long after the Heartless obliterated the world's populace and it was difficult for even me who has been doing this sort of work for a long time"

"I'm prepared for that. Gotta take all the good with the bad, ya?"

"Exactly, well then, welcome to the team Wakka"

"I am honoured to fight alongside you Mr. Ashura Dragoon. We will be a great team, ya?"

"Indeed… how do you know my full name? Tidus?"

"Tidus!" Wakka confirmed with a laugh that snapped Tidus to attention.

"I suggest that you go and collect your belongings that you require on the journey and meet back here in twenty minutes… Will your parents allow you to come along?" As Ashura finished his sentence Tidus winced slightly at the question.

"My err… parents died when I was a baby, I never really knew them. My big brother brought me up single handed. Dav's parents are not alive either, did you know?"

"I did not and I am sorry to hear that, but at present it does not particularly matter. We have to hurry and get to our friends… before something happens to them"

_**R + R if you enjoy this story!**_


	2. Unwilling Desent

**Authors Notes: Here is the first real chapter which kicks the events of the fic off quite nicely. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts except Dav Strife, the storyline of the Balance, Dav's Nobody Seth, the events of this story and the world of Tracton. Zen, Zalak, Orachron and Ashura belong to MASmaster and Dark Lord Sigma. I do not profit in any way from this story except the satisfaction of writing for my fans.**

**The Dark World**

**By Dav Strife**

**Chapter 01: Unwilling Desent**

"Hey, did anyone feel that?"

"Feel what Seth?"

"I don't know, the ship just felt uneasy. Almost as if it was struggling against some force…"

"I got nuthin' here Seth. Maybe its just turbulence"

"No, I think he's right guys, something is pulling at the ship"

"Ya sure your majesty?"

"Sure am. But there isn't anything on the scanners…"

"I've tried sensing anything… that is disrupting the balance of the elements but I can't find anything…"

"Wait… there it is again… harder this time…"

"Yeah, your right Riku, something is battering the outside of the ship"

"WWWWAAAHHHH! The controls are jammed! Nothing is working properly, we're going to crash!"

"Dammit, where are we?"

"Over the planet… hold on!"

"Good luck everyone!"

A8A

Dav's head was spinning and his sight nothing but darkness. His body felt light and unnatural almost as if he was dreaming, his grip on consciousness and reality faltering and slipping away. But as quickly as he lost his grip on reality it returned. Instantly his head was plunged into a world of pain and confusion. Light blinded his vision and all he could see was spots all the while his head was throbbing from excruciating pain. His first act in the land of the conscious was to throw up his arm to protect his eyes from the light but that sent much more pain coursing through his body, putting him back on the verge of passing out again from the pain. Slowly his vision began to un-blur and his retinas began to focus in on solid images around him but he wished that they hadn't. Parts of the large ship they had been travelling in were scattered all around the young blonde but the main ship was no where to be seen.

_Must've been thrown off the ship in mid air. Maybe the cockpit cracked under the pressure of the rough entry to the planet's surface_. Rubbing his eyes with his left hand Dav then tried to stand up and found even that difficult as pain shot up his leg and up his spine, instantly directing his attention to his left leg. A large wound that had been caused by a piece of flying debris was the source of the pain which bled but only slowly. Ripping off one of his sleeves off his coat that now lay in a ripped heap he tied it around the wound and tightened as much his pain tolerance would allow him. Laying his good hand onto the wound lightly he focused some of his magical energies into a spell and the area around the wound slowly began to cease hurting, only being a dull ache. Deciding his right arm was broken and beyond magic Dav made a make shift sling by ripping up the remainder of the jacket.

Slowly the young blonde stood up uneasily, shifting most of his weight onto his good leg to stop unnecessary pain for his injuries. Luckily for Dav the locker that had contained his weapons and potions had fallen out of the ship shortly after he had and the majority of his things had been spared barring most of his potions and ethers which had leaked into the locker itself when their bottles smashed. Walking up to the weapons locker Dav found that he had locked it earlier to prevent things falling out on the ship and he had lost the key. Holding out his hand he summoned his balance Keyblade that had not been used in a while and pointed it at the lock of the locker to unlock it. Much to Dav's disappointment however the locker did not open, nothing happened at all. Dav resorted to stabbing the Keyblade into the middle of the steel door to create a hole large enough to get his hand through. Setting his weapon down Dav reached into the locker and took out the only weapon he could properly reach, a handgun.

Despite the pain still coursing around his system Dav raised the gun so it pointed inches away from the lock and fired off three rounds that formed a triangle shape around the lock and its mechanism. Tucking the gun into his trouser waistband he then picked up the Keyblade again and jabbed the lock with its hilt. The lock gave way after two hits thanks to the bullet holes that severely weakened the area around the lock. Satisfied with his work he opened the door and took his weapons out one by one. First he holstered his guns on his hips to gain easier access to them because he had limited movement thanks to his right arm, then he sheathed Zantetsuken on his right hand side and then hefted his Buster Blade out of the locker and kept in his left hand, partly for defence and partly for balancing on to ease the strain on his leg wound. Slotting the few potions and ethers he had left into his back pack he threw it over his left shoulder and began to walk away from where he landed.

He glanced around in all directions and all he saw was desert and darkness. As he stared into the darkness of the night a loud beeping caught his attention. Scrambling around in his bag he came across his phone of all things. _Yes! My phone, it still works!_ Taking the phone out he looked at the display and at the number that was calling. _I don__'t know this number… Ah well…._ Holding up to his ear he issued the voice command 'Connect' in a weaker than normal tone.

"Hello?"

"_Your safe? Thank goodness, is anyone else there with you?" _asked the high pitched voice of King Mickey.

"No sir, I'm alone with a broken arm and a wounded leg but I'll live"

"_I'm with Donald and Riku, we've confirmed that Sora and Seth are together so we're just missing Goofy. Gosh, I hope he's okay…"_

"No worries Your Majesty, I think I see him, he's trying to fight Heartless alone… I'll go help him"

"_Be careful Dav, your not in any condition to fight properly!"_

"Ill be careful sire, I'll call you back after we fight them off"

_  
"Okay, be careful!"_

Dav dropped his bag with the phone and broke into a sprint towards where Goofy was fighting off a group of humanoid Heartless. As he approached closer the pain in his leg intensified but he carried on, determined to help Goofy. The Captain of the Knights of Disney Castle did not look in the best shape either as he battled a group of five unknown type of Heartless. Dav ran straight past Goofy who was fending off one with his shield and slashed straight through one of the Heartless with his Buster Blade and then hopped backwards to avoid being knocked over by a sword stroke. Goofy launched his shield at the Heartless and it cut through it and returned to its owner who gave Dav a forced grin. The blonde teen merely nodded back and then blocked a slash from another Heartless. After dispatching it with another powerful cleaving swipe the pain from holding such a heavy weapon in one arm while suffering fatigue and other injuries took its toll and caused him to drop the weapon to the floor with a clanging sound. Goofy saw this and came to Dav's aid jumping in front of him and charging at his new attacker with his shield held high. After a few strikes of the shield the attacker momentarily backed off but then raised its shadowy sword in the air and arced it at Goofy's head. He retaliated by bringing the shield up to meet it which caused sparks to flare up. The Heartless clearly having the advantage over the injured Goofy began to push down on the shield resulting in the Captain using all his strength to fight back.

"Goofy, push it away now!" Dav yelled to Goofy who nodded back and focused the last of his energies and used his Rocket manoeuvre which sent the Heartless off balance by knocking its weapon away and Goofy was launched into the air by his own momentum. Dav gritted his teeth and used his aching left arm to grasp one of his favourite weapons and pointed directly at the recovering Heartless and unloaded his last three bullets into the humanoid and it faded away while its heart floated into the air. The last Heartless of the group singled Dav out because he was the weakest of the two because of his injuries and advanced quickly on Dav who unsheathed Zantetsuken and pushed back against the Heartless' own weapon and another struggle took place. The Heartless again was superior in health and strength so it began to gain the upper hand so Dav used his remaining bit of strength to knock his enemy's blade upwards and drove his shoulder into the Heartless, sending it crashing to the ground. Dav then stabbed his sword through it and it faded away leaving Goofy and Dav on their own.

Returning to his bag Dav took out his last two Hi-potions and handed one to his ally who downed it in a single gulp and grinned dopily at Dav who smiled and then drank his. Both the fighters felt some of their spent energy return to them and gave them enough energy to walk in search of the others.

"Thanks for the help buddy" Goofy said to Dav who now had the Buster Blade resting on his back.

"Don't worry about it Goofy, you'd have done the same for me anyway"

"Ayuk, that's true. I wonder where the others are and if they are okay…"

"They're fine, the king himself rang me up. He, Donald and Riku are together and so are Sora and Seth. We best head for the ship's crash site to see if the others are there"

"Good idea, shouldn't ya ring the king back up jus' ta make sure?"

"Couldn't hurt, here, take my phone and you do it. The number is in the recent calls list…"

"I found it but it just beeps…"

"Rats, that means no signal"

"Hmm… do ya know where we are? You said that you came here before right?"

"Yeah, I don' recognise this place though… but I do that!" Dav said while motioning over to a city in a valley with a huge road bridge dominating the skyline above the wrecked city.

"Looks creepy…" Goofy said quietly while taking his shield off his back and holding it loosely.

"Ashura and I call that the City of the Dead, and that bridge the Heartless Bridge because of the huge numbers that we fought on there…" Dav looked upwards into the black sky and felt a shiver down his spine. "I hate this place, we better find the others and find shelter before nightfall…"

"You mean its not night now?" Goofy asked bewildered.

"No, whatever is going on here has even effected the planet's eco system… but night time is the worst. It grows really cold and monstrous Heartless come out, they make Darksides seem easy… And that was before the darkness set in"

"Garwsh, lets hurry to the crash site then!"

A8A

"Don't worry Sora, I'll get you to shelter" Seth reassured Sora who was sat on the Nobody's back because of injuries to his legs. "This place feels wrong… darkness, emptiness, anger are all here…"

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Sora asked weakly from his point atop Seth's back.

"Go ahead…"

"Umm… how do I ask this… how did you..."

"How did I come into existence?"

"Uh, yeah. Dav never mentioned losing his heart…"

"We'll rest here and I'll tell you everything"

Seth carefully set Sora down onto a small hill of sand and then sat down at the foot of the hill, staring at the sand in front of him. They both sat in silence for a few minutes before Seth finally broke the silence.

"The Balance between Dark and Light... Dav... is someone who can control both the elements... and yet he is in between, the twilight. Dav can also decide which element he wishes to back which would avoid everything I'm about to tell you but he thinks that will be far to dangerous for everybody. This much you do know, but there are things only a few people know. Dav is in a constant struggle with the two elements, it takes all of his willpower to keep the two forces in sync within himself. However in certain places or certain times the two elements take form of two warriors, one of dark and one of light. They are both horribly powerful and will fight until one has won. The winner will then exist and the loser will cease to exist. In turn this will give either the Heartless or those who oppose the Heartless an unfair advantage. When this happens Dav's heart is ripped apart as the elements take form and he essentially dies. However thanks to his friends in Hallow Bastion both the forces cancelled each other out and Dav came back into being, and so his struggle continues and I came to exist"

"In Hallow Bastion? When?" Sora asked while both fascinated and surprised.

"During your fight with The Seeker. In the same room in fact… but you had your own problems to deal with"

"What will happen if it happens again?"

"I do not know, Dav has become incredibly strong, just the same as you have… He may be able to keep them at bay properly. However if they come to fight again I think Dav will not fade, instead he will remain and have to fight them both simply to survive"

"Well, I'll be there to help him next time…" Sora informed confidently.

"I'm sure when the time comes we all will…"

"You are different from the other Nobodies…"

"In what way?"

"You don't resent being created and being a shadow of someone else…"

"I think the difference is that I actually met the original and he gave me confidence to live and not be consumed by self loathing. He told me that I am my own person and not his shadow… because he is a one of a kind…" Sora and Seth both laughed at the last comment made before Sora shifted so he could look at the sky.

"I think we better go to the crash site where the others are and quick. Don't worry though I'll try walking so you don't have to carry me…"

"Good, because you are HEAVY!"

"Wha! Am not!" Sora said with a mock pout.

"Heh, are all you people from Destiny Islands insane? I've met Dav, Tidus, Riku and you. You all are a bit crazy…"

"That's us!" Sora said with a grin.

"Right, lets move and quick"

A8A

"So, your majesty. You think we should go to the city?" Donald asked with a tone of respect.

"Maybe after the others get here… Dav will know something about that place I'm sure…"

"He does… and he hates it…" Riku confirmed with a grave look on his face. "The Heartless on this planet are far stronger and far more dangerous than we've faced in the past. He even said that the city is the worst place of all. That is where the problem is I'd say… The darkness surrounding the city is incredible… and horrible at the same time"

"We'll need everyone before we move on though… say, did you just hear that?"

"Yeah… we have company… big company…" Riku confirmed as he detached Soul Eater from his belt.

"Hurry guys…" Mickey whispered as he readied his Keyblade and watched a huge shadow descend on them.

_**R + R if you liked it!**_


	3. The Guardian Hound

Authors Notes: How will Mickey, Riku and Donald cope against the mystery Heartless? Will the others make it in time? Will Seth learn that patience is a virtue? Find out in this chapter of The Dark World.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts except Dav Strife, the storyline of the Balance, Dav's Nobody Seth, the events of this story, the world of Tracton and the new Heartless models I create. Zen, Zalak, Orachron and Ashura belong to MASmaster and Dark Lord Sigma. I do not profit in any way from this story except the satisfaction of writing for my fans.

The Dark World

By Dav Strife

Chapter 02: The Guardian Hound

"What in the worlds is that…" Riku asked quietly as a huge shadow towered over him and his companions.

"…One of the three Guardians of the Planet…" King Mickey replied equally as quiet.

"Your majesty, what do we do?"

"Do… we try to survive old pal, that's all we can do until the others arrive"

"Is it really that bad?" Riku asked slightly louder, getting nervous.

"Yup, sure is. Lets do our best guys!"

"Right!" Donald chimed in while holding his staff ready for battle.

"Here it comes!" Riku yelled, bracing himself for what was to come.

A8A

"Hey pal, what's that shadow thing over there?" Goofy enquired from his place on top of a large sand dune that over looked the desert and inevitably the crash site.

"Oh no… not again" Dav uttered, earning a worried look from Goofy.

"What ya mean?"

"I mean that whoever is down there is as good as dead… That Goofy, is one of three super Heartless that inhabit this world. That is Hell Hound, the weakest of the three and yet far stronger than all of us… We have to get down there and help the others…"

"Gosh, we better hurry!"

"Yeah… we better hope our back-up arrives soon…"

A8A

The Heartless guardian of legend Hell Hound stood over the three warriors ready to kill any who oppose it. The huge beast towered above them all, standing at the height of a Behemoth and four times as deadly. The massive beast stood on four legs which each were as long as a Trickmaster's whole body and had spikes similar to a shark's dorsal fin running all down the back of the leg and three sharp deadly claws at the end of each foot. The body of the beast was slender like a wolf with the same spikes except much larger running down the spinal column down onto the tail that was half the length of the body. The end of the tail also was adorned with a long sword like bone for whacKing enemies away that again was the typical Heartless colour. The head boasted similar features to a wolf with two piercing yellow eyes that stood out from the rest of it's Darkside coloured body. Three rows of teeth lined both its top and bottom jaw to crunch up anything it desired.

It glanced down on its prey and began to growl quietly at first but as Riku rose his voice the volume of its threatening growl grew sharply. It then let out a fierce roar that could strike fear into even the most battle hardened. It crouched low and leapt over the three warriors while swiping its tail downwards in an attempt to cut its prey in half. All three fighters leapt from harms way as the giant wolf landed and turned around ready to pounce again. Mickey, now with Keyblade in hand, made a beeline for its leg and slashed its front right leg which caused to yelp in pain and then tried to bite the King in two. Riku was next to attack with his Soul Eater, he leapt as high as he could and slashed at the beast's snout which caused the monster more agitation than pain but it did distract it from attacKing the King. Donald who had hung back until now raised his staff and pelted the wolf with lightning magic. However the boss Heartless barely noticed the attack and moved to attack Riku with the paw that Mickey slashed. It caught the silver haired boy in the chest and this sent him flying backwards into a low sand dune. Donald ran over to him and cast Curaga on him which gave him a temporary green glow that disappeared after a few seconds but gave him energy enough to stand back up and enter the fight again. The King meanwhile tried jumping onto the creatures back to attack but it was proving difficult as the Wolf would stand still for long enough.

Mickey landed back on his feet after another jump attempt and was knocked aside by the bladed tail. Riku took his place and slashed at the tail but it swung its large tail upwards and caught Riku in the chest again. Both Mickey and Riku were slowly recovering but this left Donald to combat the creature on his own. The duck mage glanced around to see where the others were but found nothing so he directed a Firaga spell at the huge hound's face which exploded on its nose and caused it a great deal of pain. In retaliation the Heartless reared its head back and then spewed out a dark stream of energy that was directed at Donald. The mage ran as fast as his legs could carry him and he narrowly avoided the deadly shadow attack. Another Firaga spell to the front paw caused the beast to stand on its hind legs and then slam its two front paws into the very ground under it. Shockwaves ran through the ground and a pillar of earth was pushed up that collided directly with Donald and sent him flying like the other two fighters before him. The black dog walked up to Riku who was on his side still clutching his chest and sniffed around him before raising its head for a bite attempt.

Instead the large dog yelped loudly and backed off from Riku and the others and lowered its head so it rested under its body to protect it from something. From behind where Riku was laying Dav was stood on another of the world's many sand dunes with one gun raised and smoKing. Replacing the gun into its holster he slid down the hill followed by Goofy and knelt down beside Riku.

"Goofy, get Donald while I distract it and get him and Riku to safety"

"What about the King?"

"See for yourself"

King Mickey had already recovered and was attacKing the hound with his Keyblade in hand. Dav nodded to Goofy who dragged Riku out of harms way and then went quietly to retrieve Donald without drawing the boss Heartless' attention. Dav drew his sword and ran to join the King who had just ducked under another tail sweep. The wolf Heartless stopped attacKing and stared at Dav for a second while tilting it head to the side. Dav pointed his sword at the giant canine and shouted at it, trying to get its attention.

"Remember me doggy? You'll defiantly remember this sword won't you?" The dog heartless growled louder than ever and blindly lunged for Dav jumped out of the way and this gave the King a chance to jump on its head while it was recovering.

"Hit the nose your majesty!" Dav yelled to the royal mouse who nodded in concentration and agreement and raised his Keyblade in the air.

With all his strength Mickey threw the blade at the dog's nose but the canine moved its head so the blade grazed the Heartless' skin and nothing else. Mickey was thrown off as a result of the quick movement and landed with a loud thud at the side of the dog. Dav ran forward the jumped into air just under its chin and thrust his sword into the bottom of its jaw. Rather than the simply dying the Hell Hound cried loudly and then spun around quickly bringing its tail to whack Dav who also turned around at the same time and the bladed tail collided with Dav's Buster Blade that was resting on his back. The young blonde was still thrown forwards but suffered minimal damage. Knowing this the Hell Hound raised its front paw and slammed it down on the already injured teen. Dav yelled in pain as the Hound's paw applied crushing pressure onto the Buster Blade that then crushed Dav.

Everyone was too injured to act and could only watched as the uber-Heartless proceeded to continue hurting Dav. The sound of a ship filled the air and everyone looked up to see a Gummi Ship tearing through the air and over the Hell Hound. As it passed over the Heartless a figure dropped directly from the ship and plummeted straight for the dog who was still concentrating on crushing Dav. The figure gained speed as it descended towards the dog and then the figure landed on the dog's nose, it's fist aimed directly on the muzzle of the beat. A loud cracKing sound was all that anyone could hear as the figure's fist impacted with the Hell Hound's face. The figure then jumped down off the dog's face and dragged Dav to his feet and took out of the path of the greatly injured dog who had released the blonde as it was attacked. Two more figures that were Wakka and Tidus came to confront the dog as Ashura dragged Dav over to where Riku, Donald and the King were laid.

"Tidus, go up man!" Wakka yelled to Tidus who responded by planting his sword in the ground, putting one foot on the hilt and jumped way up into the air.

Wakka then threw the ball up to meet Tidus who flipped forward in mid air and kicked the ball powerfully into the dog's left eye. Just as the dark blonde touched back down on the ground the Hell Hound charged forward, now blinded by pain. Both the Destiny Islanders moved out of the way and the Hound stamped harmlessly by them. Sora and Seth were the next to appear as Sora sent both Oathkeeper and Oblivion flying at the Hound and they struck it in two different places on the side of it's mouth. Seth then delivered an uppercut to the Hound with his Scythe which opened another wound on it's already badly injured face.

Riku and the King joined Wakka, Tidus, Ashura and Goofy to face off against the now erratic beast who was now maKing mistakes that gave the fighters opportunities to strike it. Wakka jumped into the air and yelled "Take This!" while holding his ball which now had the spikes extended. He launched it at the Hound's face again which hit and stuck thanks to the spikes into one of it's yellow eyes. While it was distracted with the pain of it's impaled eye Riku charged up to it and stood under its face. He grabbed onto the hilt of Zantetsuken that was still stuck in the unfortunate Heartless' jaw and twisted the sword with all his strength. The Hound stopped thrashing about at the other warriors and yelped for the final time before slumping to the floor with a gurgling sound. Riku rolled out of the way as the body of the Beast fell to the floor and picked himself up. Dav had managed to haul himself up as well and watched the Hell Hound evaporate into thin air. As it disappeared both The World Champion and Zantetsuken landed on the sand with a soft thud. As the beast's body finished fading away a large heart floated up into the air and then crumbled away into pink dust, scattering on the wind that was now brewing. The clouds that were swirling above the entire area finally released their payload of rain on the battlefield accompanied to thunder and lightning.

Dav looked at the desert under his feet and uttered something quietly that only Ashura and Riku heard. "I'm so sorry…"

"What for, what are you talKing about?" Riku asked the injured blonde with concern. His concern was only worsened as he noticed Tidus and Ashura who both had similar sad and gloomy expressions.

"That….Hell Hound was once a normal wolf… It belonged to a warrior who swore to defend Tracton from the Heartless to his dying breath. The three Guardians… were originally living things… a wolf, a man and something else… but I'm not sure what the strongest Guardian was…"

"That's terrible…" the now conscious Donald added.

"Ashura, Tidus and I met him and his wolf… we offered him a chance to leave this place but he wouldn't… He was convinced there was a way to banish the Heartless once and for all. We have to defeat the Guardians to find out what happened on this world or else it will spread and consume the other worlds"

"We now know what we must do. This Guardian was the easiest but most of you look injured so it probably would have been easier if you were all fit" Ashura informed the party, most of who were paying attention. All apart from Tidus and Dav who were staring into space thinKing about the soul of the wolf.

"At the least the poor thing is finally free" King Mickey offered as a comforter.

"Yeah, we have to have the others and liberate them!" Tidus shouted angrily.

"Where will we find the next one?" Sora asked who had been silent up until that point.

"We don't. It will find us, it will sense the defeat of the Hell Hound and come looKing for us…" Ashura answered gravely. "We must not think of the Heartless as a valiant warrior but simply as a Heartless. It will make the coming battle much easier…"

"We should find a place to rest for now… We'll be ready for the next one, ya?" Wakka said trying to raise everyone's morale.

"He is right, the best thing now is to rest our wounds, the fitter among us take shifts in keeping a look out for Heartless. Dav, Tidus, Ashura… any suggestions where to go?"

"Yeah, the city" Tidus suggested, gaining a sceptical look from both Dav and Ashura.

"The city… are you sure about that?" Dav questioned while breathing heavily. "The most of the Heartless are in the city… well above mainly on the bridge but the city has its fair share of Heartless…"

"No, I mean the subway system under the city. There is a drain leading under the city under the largest of the sand dunes, I saw it as we flew in. We could take that into the sewer system and then into the subway system through a drainage pipe or Ladder. Don't you remember when he went into the subway system to try and escape the Heartless hordes… we all got seven hours sleep and not a Heartless in sight… well, until we reached the stairs that lead to the surface"

"I think that might be the safest route. In our present condition we won't survive against the stronger Heartless that dwell in this world. Let us move…"

"I'm not much use to anyone with a broken arm anyway so I'll hang in the middle of the group" Dav

"Let me take a look…" King Mickey requested as he moved to Dav's right side.

Dav slowly removed the make shift sling that was now covered in blood in places and held his right arm out while supporting it with his left hand. The King ran his gloved hand along the arm to just above the elbow and then pressed slightly earning a short gasp from Dav.

"Its just dislocated, not broken" The King informed the pained blonde with a smile.

"Ashura, would you do the honours?" Dav asked his older ally who nodded and moved towards him.

"Do what?" The King asked worriedly.

"This" Ashura said simply as he placed one hand around Dav's upper arm and his other on the elbow joint itself. With one swift movement Ashura caused the bone in his friend's arm to pop back into place, letting everyone know with a sickening sound. Dav then twisted his arm around 360 degrees and then did the same with his forearm, causing the bone to click a few times, much to the dismay of Sora and the King.

"Thanks buddy, it still hurts but I think I can manage a sword or gun so I'm not completely defenceless"

"We should move on now!" Riku announced to the party loudly. "The Heartless are moving this way. Tidus show us the way now!"

"How do you know?" Donald asked surprised.

"I can smell them" Riku returned hurriedly.

Sora stared at Riku for a moment and then blinked twice "I'll never get used to that"

"You won't do anything again if they catch us" Dav retorted while grabbing his discarded sword and then he threw Wakka's weapon to him.

"And how do you know?" Donald asked cockily.

"Because I sense these things, if anything is out of balance then I pick it up. These Heartless seem particularly aggressive, especially after the loss of their master.

"Yup, you are right let's move it guys!" The King instructed, this time everyone taking notice.

The group of ten warriors moved away from the crash site of their ship and toward a towering sand dune while being led by Tidus. As they approached closer all they could see was a giant mound of sand and no pipe to be found.

"Where is this pipe then?" Riku asked Tidus impatiently.

"It was here, see, you can see city from here… The sand must have covered the entrance…"

"Leave it to me everyone!" Sora called happily. "Dav, Donald… cast Aeroga on me!"

Without questioning why Dav and Donald pointed their respected weapons at Sora and focused their magical energies into their weapons. The winds of three separate spells (including one from Sora) whipped around Sora's body effectively making him a walking hurricane. He then walked up to the where the entrance to the sewers once was according to Tidus' directions and threw himself onto the dune, instantly whipping all the sand under him into a spiral around his body. More and more sand was absorbed by Sora's vacuum until the pipe was clearly visible as it stuck out of the sand, most of the metal covering showing. The young Keyblade master wondered away from the pipe and stood still as the sand continued to float around him.

"There are two ways to get rid of an Aeroga barrier…" Donald advised everyone "Damage the shield around Sora enough that it will disperse!"

"This will be fun!" Dav exclaimed as he reached for his Buster Blade with most of its weight been taken up by his left arm.

"Stress relief" Riku stated comically which amused Ashura, Tidus and Wakka but got a disapproving glare from both Mickey and Goofy.

Tidus, Dav and Riku all took turns at swiping at the super powerful wind barrier. Dav swung first with his heavy weapon, as the heavy blade reached Sora the wind around him whipped around the approaching blade and forced it away which took Dav with it. Wakka primed his ball and threw it over arm at the shield and the ball became entangled within the wind causing it fly up into the air and vanish from sight. Wakka stared into the dark sky where the ball had disappeared only to be scared witless as his ball re-materialised into his hands. After two minutes of constant abuse the shield slowly died down and Sora could be seen again, however dizzy he was.

Ashura walked up the entrance to the pipe and knocked away the remaining bit of sand and examined the lid itself to find it was solid plate steel that didn't look like it was going to move anytime soon. He also observed that there was a small keyhole covered by a flap of steel that would be used to open the cover. He turned to his companions and looked at Sora, Mickey and Dav in turn.

"Will somebody unlock this? The Heartless will not be far behind us now"

"I will" The King said in his usual comical high pitched voice.

He took his Keyblade and pointed the end at the small lock. The tip of his Keyblade developed a light glow for a second and then disappeared again. The glow then came from within the lock itself briefly, leaving only a light clicking sound to confirm that the lock had opened. Ashura then hefted the door open and entered the tube first before coming back out again.

"We need some light in there… Donald, you go first"

"You can't order me, only the King gives me orders!" Donald yelled loudly.

"Donald, I order you to go first and light the way with your magic!" Mickey mock yelled that changed Donald's expression very quickly.

"Yes your majesty!"

Donald waddled into the relatively small pipe and held his staff a little in front of his face where a flame appeared lighting the inside of the pipe slightly. After everyone had filed into the pipe Ashura closed the door firmly and Mickey squeezed passed him and locked the door again. Sora and Dav both conjured small Fire spells to further lighten their way into the tunnels.

"How far would ya say, man?" Wakka asked Tidus who was in front of the orange haired Blitzer.

"I think 'bout an hours walk" He answered back seriously.

"Oh good" Seth's voice said sarcastically from the back of the line of the party.

"Take your chances outside then…" Ashura mocked.

"…No thanks.."


	4. The City of the Dead

Authors Notes: How will Mickey, Riku and Donald cope against the mystery Heartless? Will the others make it in time? Will Seth learn that patience is a virtue? Find out in this chapter of The Dark World.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts except Dav Strife, the storyline of the Balance, Dav's Nobody Seth, the events of this story, the world of Tracton and the new Heartless models I create. Zen, Zalak, Orachron and Ashura belong to MASmaster and Dark Lord Sigma. I do not profit in any way from this story except the satisfaction of writing for my fans.

The Dark World

By Dav Strife

Chapter 02: The Guardian Hound

"What in the worlds is that…" Riku asked quietly as a huge shadow towered over him and his companions.

"…One of the three Guardians of the Planet…" King Mickey replied equally as quiet.

"Your majesty, what do we do?"

"Do… we try to survive old pal, that's all we can do until the others arrive"

"Is it really that bad?" Riku asked slightly louder, getting nervous.

"Yup, sure is. Lets do our best guys!"

"Right!" Donald chimed in while holding his staff ready for battle.

"Here it comes!" Riku yelled, bracing himself for what was to come.

A8A

"Hey pal, what's that shadow thing over there?" Goofy enquired from his place on top of a large sand dune that over looked the desert and inevitably the crash site.

"Oh no… not again" Dav uttered, earning a worried look from Goofy.

"What ya mean?"

"I mean that whoever is down there is as good as dead… That Goofy, is one of three super Heartless that inhabit this world. That is Hell Hound, the weakest of the three and yet far stronger than all of us… We have to get down there and help the others…"

"Gosh, we better hurry!"

"Yeah… we better hope our back-up arrives soon…"

A8A

The Heartless guardian of legend Hell Hound stood over the three warriors ready to kill any who oppose it. The huge beast towered above them all, standing at the height of a Behemoth and four times as deadly. The massive beast stood on four legs which each were as long as a Trickmaster's whole body and had spikes similar to a shark's dorsal fin running all down the back of the leg and three sharp deadly claws at the end of each foot. The body of the beast was slender like a wolf with the same spikes except much larger running down the spinal column down onto the tail that was half the length of the body. The end of the tail also was adorned with a long sword like bone for whacKing enemies away that again was the typical Heartless colour. The head boasted similar features to a wolf with two piercing yellow eyes that stood out from the rest of it's Darkside coloured body. Three rows of teeth lined both its top and bottom jaw to crunch up anything it desired.

It glanced down on its prey and began to growl quietly at first but as Riku rose his voice the volume of its threatening growl grew sharply. It then let out a fierce roar that could strike fear into even the most battle hardened. It crouched low and leapt over the three warriors while swiping its tail downwards in an attempt to cut its prey in half. All three fighters leapt from harms way as the giant wolf landed and turned around ready to pounce again. Mickey, now with Keyblade in hand, made a beeline for its leg and slashed its front right leg which caused to yelp in pain and then tried to bite the King in two. Riku was next to attack with his Soul Eater, he leapt as high as he could and slashed at the beast's snout which caused the monster more agitation than pain but it did distract it from attacKing the King. Donald who had hung back until now raised his staff and pelted the wolf with lightning magic. However the boss Heartless barely noticed the attack and moved to attack Riku with the paw that Mickey slashed. It caught the silver haired boy in the chest and this sent him flying backwards into a low sand dune. Donald ran over to him and cast Curaga on him which gave him a temporary green glow that disappeared after a few seconds but gave him energy enough to stand back up and enter the fight again. The King meanwhile tried jumping onto the creatures back to attack but it was proving difficult as the Wolf would stand still for long enough.

Mickey landed back on his feet after another jump attempt and was knocked aside by the bladed tail. Riku took his place and slashed at the tail but it swung its large tail upwards and caught Riku in the chest again. Both Mickey and Riku were slowly recovering but this left Donald to combat the creature on his own. The duck mage glanced around to see where the others were but found nothing so he directed a Firaga spell at the huge hound's face which exploded on its nose and caused it a great deal of pain. In retaliation the Heartless reared its head back and then spewed out a dark stream of energy that was directed at Donald. The mage ran as fast as his legs could carry him and he narrowly avoided the deadly shadow attack. Another Firaga spell to the front paw caused the beast to stand on its hind legs and then slam its two front paws into the very ground under it. Shockwaves ran through the ground and a pillar of earth was pushed up that collided directly with Donald and sent him flying like the other two fighters before him. The black dog walked up to Riku who was on his side still clutching his chest and sniffed around him before raising its head for a bite attempt.

Instead the large dog yelped loudly and backed off from Riku and the others and lowered its head so it rested under its body to protect it from something. From behind where Riku was laying Dav was stood on another of the world's many sand dunes with one gun raised and smoKing. Replacing the gun into its holster he slid down the hill followed by Goofy and knelt down beside Riku.

"Goofy, get Donald while I distract it and get him and Riku to safety"

"What about the King?"

"See for yourself"

King Mickey had already recovered and was attacKing the hound with his Keyblade in hand. Dav nodded to Goofy who dragged Riku out of harms way and then went quietly to retrieve Donald without drawing the boss Heartless' attention. Dav drew his sword and ran to join the King who had just ducked under another tail sweep. The wolf Heartless stopped attacKing and stared at Dav for a second while tilting it head to the side. Dav pointed his sword at the giant canine and shouted at it, trying to get its attention.

"Remember me doggy? You'll defiantly remember this sword won't you?" The dog heartless growled louder than ever and blindly lunged for Dav jumped out of the way and this gave the King a chance to jump on its head while it was recovering.

"Hit the nose your majesty!" Dav yelled to the royal mouse who nodded in concentration and agreement and raised his Keyblade in the air.

With all his strength Mickey threw the blade at the dog's nose but the canine moved its head so the blade grazed the Heartless' skin and nothing else. Mickey was thrown off as a result of the quick movement and landed with a loud thud at the side of the dog. Dav ran forward the jumped into air just under its chin and thrust his sword into the bottom of its jaw. Rather than the simply dying the Hell Hound cried loudly and then spun around quickly bringing its tail to whack Dav who also turned around at the same time and the bladed tail collided with Dav's Buster Blade that was resting on his back. The young blonde was still thrown forwards but suffered minimal damage. Knowing this the Hell Hound raised its front paw and slammed it down on the already injured teen. Dav yelled in pain as the Hound's paw applied crushing pressure onto the Buster Blade that then crushed Dav.

Everyone was too injured to act and could only watched as the uber-Heartless proceeded to continue hurting Dav. The sound of a ship filled the air and everyone looked up to see a Gummi Ship tearing through the air and over the Hell Hound. As it passed over the Heartless a figure dropped directly from the ship and plummeted straight for the dog who was still concentrating on crushing Dav. The figure gained speed as it descended towards the dog and then the figure landed on the dog's nose, it's fist aimed directly on the muzzle of the beat. A loud cracKing sound was all that anyone could hear as the figure's fist impacted with the Hell Hound's face. The figure then jumped down off the dog's face and dragged Dav to his feet and took out of the path of the greatly injured dog who had released the blonde as it was attacked. Two more figures that were Wakka and Tidus came to confront the dog as Ashura dragged Dav over to where Riku, Donald and the King were laid.

"Tidus, go up man!" Wakka yelled to Tidus who responded by planting his sword in the ground, putting one foot on the hilt and jumped way up into the air.

Wakka then threw the ball up to meet Tidus who flipped forward in mid air and kicked the ball powerfully into the dog's left eye. Just as the dark blonde touched back down on the ground the Hell Hound charged forward, now blinded by pain. Both the Destiny Islanders moved out of the way and the Hound stamped harmlessly by them. Sora and Seth were the next to appear as Sora sent both Oathkeeper and Oblivion flying at the Hound and they struck it in two different places on the side of it's mouth. Seth then delivered an uppercut to the Hound with his Scythe which opened another wound on it's already badly injured face.

Riku and the King joined Wakka, Tidus, Ashura and Goofy to face off against the now erratic beast who was now maKing mistakes that gave the fighters opportunities to strike it. Wakka jumped into the air and yelled "Take This!" while holding his ball which now had the spikes extended. He launched it at the Hound's face again which hit and stuck thanks to the spikes into one of it's yellow eyes. While it was distracted with the pain of it's impaled eye Riku charged up to it and stood under its face. He grabbed onto the hilt of Zantetsuken that was still stuck in the unfortunate Heartless' jaw and twisted the sword with all his strength. The Hound stopped thrashing about at the other warriors and yelped for the final time before slumping to the floor with a gurgling sound. Riku rolled out of the way as the body of the Beast fell to the floor and picked himself up. Dav had managed to haul himself up as well and watched the Hell Hound evaporate into thin air. As it disappeared both The World Champion and Zantetsuken landed on the sand with a soft thud. As the beast's body finished fading away a large heart floated up into the air and then crumbled away into pink dust, scattering on the wind that was now brewing. The clouds that were swirling above the entire area finally released their payload of rain on the battlefield accompanied to thunder and lightning.

Dav looked at the desert under his feet and uttered something quietly that only Ashura and Riku heard. "I'm so sorry…"

"What for, what are you talKing about?" Riku asked the injured blonde with concern. His concern was only worsened as he noticed Tidus and Ashura who both had similar sad and gloomy expressions.

"That….Hell Hound was once a normal wolf… It belonged to a warrior who swore to defend Tracton from the Heartless to his dying breath. The three Guardians… were originally living things… a wolf, a man and something else… but I'm not sure what the strongest Guardian was…"

"That's terrible…" the now conscious Donald added.

"Ashura, Tidus and I met him and his wolf… we offered him a chance to leave this place but he wouldn't… He was convinced there was a way to banish the Heartless once and for all. We have to defeat the Guardians to find out what happened on this world or else it will spread and consume the other worlds"

"We now know what we must do. This Guardian was the easiest but most of you look injured so it probably would have been easier if you were all fit" Ashura informed the party, most of who were paying attention. All apart from Tidus and Dav who were staring into space thinKing about the soul of the wolf.

"At the least the poor thing is finally free" King Mickey offered as a comforter.

"Yeah, we have to have the others and liberate them!" Tidus shouted angrily.

"Where will we find the next one?" Sora asked who had been silent up until that point.

"We don't. It will find us, it will sense the defeat of the Hell Hound and come looKing for us…" Ashura answered gravely. "We must not think of the Heartless as a valiant warrior but simply as a Heartless. It will make the coming battle much easier…"

"We should find a place to rest for now… We'll be ready for the next one, ya?" Wakka said trying to raise everyone's morale.

"He is right, the best thing now is to rest our wounds, the fitter among us take shifts in keeping a look out for Heartless. Dav, Tidus, Ashura… any suggestions where to go?"

"Yeah, the city" Tidus suggested, gaining a sceptical look from both Dav and Ashura.

"The city… are you sure about that?" Dav questioned while breathing heavily. "The most of the Heartless are in the city… well above mainly on the bridge but the city has its fair share of Heartless…"

"No, I mean the subway system under the city. There is a drain leading under the city under the largest of the sand dunes, I saw it as we flew in. We could take that into the sewer system and then into the subway system through a drainage pipe or Ladder. Don't you remember when he went into the subway system to try and escape the Heartless hordes… we all got seven hours sleep and not a Heartless in sight… well, until we reached the stairs that lead to the surface"

"I think that might be the safest route. In our present condition we won't survive against the stronger Heartless that dwell in this world. Let us move…"

"I'm not much use to anyone with a broken arm anyway so I'll hang in the middle of the group" Dav

"Let me take a look…" King Mickey requested as he moved to Dav's right side.

Dav slowly removed the make shift sling that was now covered in blood in places and held his right arm out while supporting it with his left hand. The King ran his gloved hand along the arm to just above the elbow and then pressed slightly earning a short gasp from Dav.

"Its just dislocated, not broken" The King informed the pained blonde with a smile.

"Ashura, would you do the honours?" Dav asked his older ally who nodded and moved towards him.

"Do what?" The King asked worriedly.

"This" Ashura said simply as he placed one hand around Dav's upper arm and his other on the elbow joint itself. With one swift movement Ashura caused the bone in his friend's arm to pop back into place, letting everyone know with a sickening sound. Dav then twisted his arm around 360 degrees and then did the same with his forearm, causing the bone to click a few times, much to the dismay of Sora and the King.

"Thanks buddy, it still hurts but I think I can manage a sword or gun so I'm not completely defenceless"

"We should move on now!" Riku announced to the party loudly. "The Heartless are moving this way. Tidus show us the way now!"

"How do you know?" Donald asked surprised.

"I can smell them" Riku returned hurriedly.

Sora stared at Riku for a moment and then blinked twice "I'll never get used to that"

"You won't do anything again if they catch us" Dav retorted while grabbing his discarded sword and then he threw Wakka's weapon to him.

"And how do you know?" Donald asked cockily.

"Because I sense these things, if anything is out of balance then I pick it up. These Heartless seem particularly aggressive, especially after the loss of their master.

"Yup, you are right let's move it guys!" The King instructed, this time everyone taking notice.

The group of ten warriors moved away from the crash site of their ship and toward a towering sand dune while being led by Tidus. As they approached closer all they could see was a giant mound of sand and no pipe to be found.

"Where is this pipe then?" Riku asked Tidus impatiently.

"It was here, see, you can see city from here… The sand must have covered the entrance…"

"Leave it to me everyone!" Sora called happily. "Dav, Donald… cast Aeroga on me!"

Without questioning why Dav and Donald pointed their respected weapons at Sora and focused their magical energies into their weapons. The winds of three separate spells (including one from Sora) whipped around Sora's body effectively making him a walking hurricane. He then walked up to the where the entrance to the sewers once was according to Tidus' directions and threw himself onto the dune, instantly whipping all the sand under him into a spiral around his body. More and more sand was absorbed by Sora's vacuum until the pipe was clearly visible as it stuck out of the sand, most of the metal covering showing. The young Keyblade master wondered away from the pipe and stood still as the sand continued to float around him.

"There are two ways to get rid of an Aeroga barrier…" Donald advised everyone "Damage the shield around Sora enough that it will disperse!"

"This will be fun!" Dav exclaimed as he reached for his Buster Blade with most of its weight been taken up by his left arm.

"Stress relief" Riku stated comically which amused Ashura, Tidus and Wakka but got a disapproving glare from both Mickey and Goofy.

Tidus, Dav and Riku all took turns at swiping at the super powerful wind barrier. Dav swung first with his heavy weapon, as the heavy blade reached Sora the wind around him whipped around the approaching blade and forced it away which took Dav with it. Wakka primed his ball and threw it over arm at the shield and the ball became entangled within the wind causing it fly up into the air and vanish from sight. Wakka stared into the dark sky where the ball had disappeared only to be scared witless as his ball re-materialised into his hands. After two minutes of constant abuse the shield slowly died down and Sora could be seen again, however dizzy he was.

Ashura walked up the entrance to the pipe and knocked away the remaining bit of sand and examined the lid itself to find it was solid plate steel that didn't look like it was going to move anytime soon. He also observed that there was a small keyhole covered by a flap of steel that would be used to open the cover. He turned to his companions and looked at Sora, Mickey and Dav in turn.

"Will somebody unlock this? The Heartless will not be far behind us now"

"I will" The King said in his usual comical high pitched voice.

He took his Keyblade and pointed the end at the small lock. The tip of his Keyblade developed a light glow for a second and then disappeared again. The glow then came from within the lock itself briefly, leaving only a light clicking sound to confirm that the lock had opened. Ashura then hefted the door open and entered the tube first before coming back out again.

"We need some light in there… Donald, you go first"

"You can't order me, only the King gives me orders!" Donald yelled loudly.

"Donald, I order you to go first and light the way with your magic!" Mickey mock yelled that changed Donald's expression very quickly.

"Yes your majesty!"

Donald waddled into the relatively small pipe and held his staff a little in front of his face where a flame appeared lighting the inside of the pipe slightly. After everyone had filed into the pipe Ashura closed the door firmly and Mickey squeezed passed him and locked the door again. Sora and Dav both conjured small Fire spells to further lighten their way into the tunnels.

"How far would ya say, man?" Wakka asked Tidus who was in front of the orange haired Blitzer.

"I think 'bout an hours walk" He answered back seriously.

"Oh good" Seth's voice said sarcastically from the back of the line of the party.

"Take your chances outside then…" Ashura mocked.

"…No thanks.."


End file.
